Family Court approves first adoption by same-sex couple

The Family Court yesterday gave the go-ahead for adoption to a homosexual couple after they were recently united in a civil union.

The Civil Unions law gives same-sex couples the same rights as in marriage, including the right to adopt, although gay adoptions were never technically illegal.  

The adoption process for same-sex couples is the same as that of heterosexual couples, which is centred around an assessment of the suitability of the applicants by the Family Court based on various criteria.